LITTLER TOLD HE “DOESN’T HELP HIMSELF” AMID CROWD BOOS

LUKE LITTLER has been told he “doesn’t help himself” as he continues to get booed on the big stage.

The Nuke has dominated the Premier League this season, storming to the top of the table after equaling his own record of SIX nightly wins.

The teen sensation faces a huge semi-final clash with Gerwyn Price at the O2 on Thursday as he looks to extend his incredible record of reaching the final in every appearance since his debut in 2024.

But the world No.1 has come under fire from the crowd, with jeers and whistles ringing out since his spat with Gian van Veen on Night Nine.

Former pro Vincent Van der Voort believes Littler sometimes makes things worse by engaging with fans and adding to the hostility.

He told the Daily Star Sport: “We don’t like somebody who wins everything, but only if you’re a big fan, but sometimes he doesn’t help himself as well.

“He’s been on that stage from 16-years-old, it’s very difficult as well to know what’s good and what’s not.

“I don’t know how good the people around him are with him but sometimes you think he didn’t handle that well.

“But if you win everything, you think you can do whatever you want, but the moment you start losing and the crowd is still against you all the time.

“Ask Gerwyn Price, ask Paul Nicholson, ask other players, then it will get to you, and it will hurt you as long as you win, they can’t hurt you.

“So it could be a problem in the future, but in the moment he handles it easily. Every boo everything, he just still wins matches.”

The Dutchman also rejected the idea that heckling bring the best out of Littler.

He added: “I don’t think this gets the best out of him because you can see sometimes he’s annoyed and, he loses matches out of it.

“The moments he really wants to be there he wins and sometimes it’s worse than other times, but I think in the long run, it’s not the best situation you can be in when the crowd is always against you.

“If I were involved with him, then I would talk to him 100%, but I’m not, so let him do it if the crowd will be against him forever, and he plays Michael every day it’s no problem for me!

“But if I were involved with him, I would 100% talk to him and say how you don’t have to change your personality.

“You don’t have to be a different guy than you are, but with some interviews and some things you say, you can just show your other side and you’d be more likeable.”

Image by Taylor Lanning.